The immediate past Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto will be the ‘Distinguished Guest Speaker’ at the 70th Anniversary celebration of the Faculty of Agriculture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

The Ghanaian Agriculture Economist, with rich experience in agriculture and related matters, will speak on the theme “Celebrating 70 Years of KNUST’s Global Impact on Agriculture” on Tuesday, February 13, 2024.

This follows an invitation extended to him by the prestigious institution of higher learning.

“The 70th Anniversary Celebration is a momentous milestone in the history of the Faculty, and we believe your insights and expertise would add immense value to the celebration”, part of the invitation read. It added, “Your contributions to the agricultural field and your achievements have impacted the country significantly, and we believe your presence and insights would greatly enhance the significance of this special occasion”.

The week-long celebrations beginning on February 13, 2024, to February 17, 2024, would be a grand event, bringing together alumni, students, faculty, staff, esteemed guests, and other stakeholders who have contributed to the success of the Faculty.

Dr. Akoto’s appearance would be the fifth in a row in eleven months at delivering public lectures on agriculture and related matters.

In March 2023, Dr. Akoto delivered a public lecture on the theme “The Future of the Economy of Ghana” at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) where he shared insights into building the agricultural sector into a bedrock for financing the development of other sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

In the same month, the Zimbabwe-Ghana Business Forum hosted the former NPP flagbearer hopeful as the Guest of Honour where he urged the two countries to scale up trade with each other under the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) considering the economic distress they were experiencing.

On June 6, 2023, the former two-term Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso, also addressed hundreds of captains of Turkish Agribusiness industries at the African Agriculture, Food and Industry Forum in Istanbul & Tekirdağ, in Turkey as the Special Guest of Honour. This was at the invitation of the African Investors Council (AIC).

The Agriculture Economist holds MSc. and PhD degrees from the prestigious Cambridge University in England.

He has worked in the UN systems for over 18 years.

On July 23, 2023, the Cambridge Scholar delivered a public lecture at the Mensah Sarbah Hall Biannual Alumni Celebrity Lecture.

The event, which was organized by the Mensah Sarbah Hall Alumni Association, saw the policy expert and industry player speak on topic “Exploiting Agricultural Diversification to Fund Economic Development in Ghana”.